In areas where storms with dangerously high winds are common, such as the hurricane prone Atlantic and Gulf coast regions of the United States, hundreds of people may be injured and millions of dollars in property damages may be caused due to violent storms. One of the greatest hazards to people and property from such storms is the breakage of glass windows by high winds and flying debris. Hurricane force winds can shatter the windows of households and store fronts sending shards of glass through the air and creating a hazard to both people and property.
Common approaches used to prevent shattered windows include simply nailing sheets of plywood over the windows before a storm arrives or lining the window pane with tape to strengthen pane and control the shattering of glass. These practices are extremely time consuming particularly at a period when a person could be securing important items for storm protection or preparing for an evacuation of the premises. The tedious chore of lining windows or finding plywood, cutting it to fit, and nailing it over every window of a house or building must be repeated before every storm, inevitably several times a hurricane season as it is often inconvenient to store the plywood for reuse.
Efforts have been made to provide removable protective panels for window coverage in violent storms. Such devices are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,261 to Seaquist, No. 4,333,271 to DePaolo, et al, and No. 5,457,921 to Kostrzecha.
The Seaquist patent describes a removable storm shutter that fits in to preinstalled brackets at the top and bottom of the window. The actual window covering segment is one-piece, two panels with a connective bar and side molding, and not easily storable.
The DePaolo patent describes a panel also requires pre-installable brackets but has separable corrugated panels that are vertical and overlapping. That the user slides in place one by one. The panels are removable but more numerous and time consuming to apply. The unsightly brackets on each of these panel designs are time consuming to install and also remain on the window while the panels are not in place leaving an eyesore.
The Kostrzecha patent describes a self contained corrugated panel with a metal support beam. The design requires no brackets but the window covering segment does not break down into smaller pieces and is not easily storable. Also the Kostrzecha apparatus requires a substantial number of screws that must be manipulated to install and remove the panes.
Considering the foregoing, a need exists for a storm window device that can make the routine of protecting windows from hurricane force winds an easier, less time consuming task, with a reusable panel that is easily stored, removed and reinstalled over the windows.